Jacob Rudolph, Teen Who Came Out In Awards Speech, On Why He Identifies As LGBT

Teen Reveals Why He Identified As 'LGBT' And Not Gay In Viral Coming Out Speech

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The New Jersey teen whose impassioned coming out speech during a high school awards ceremony went viral in the blogosphere is speaking out about that experience.

Jacob Rudolph, 18, tells MSNBC's Thomas Roberts he deliberately chose to identify himself as "LGBT" rather than bisexual, gay or straight because he felt "those are the labels of the past, especially in modern times."

He added, "I think that putting it in a more general term like LGBT is extraordinarily appropriate, even though I'm not a lesbian or transgender."

Rudolph also tells Roberts, "My high school's been nothing but supportive...it really wasn't for me at that point; it was for everybody else in the LGBT community."

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